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Today senior representatives from Government and the United Nations together with development partners, donors, civil society, and NGOs validated development results achieved in 2021 under the 2016-2021 Zimbabwe UN Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF) and agreed on priorities for 2022 and beyond under the new five year, 2022-2026 Zimbabwe UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (ZUNSDCF).
The ZUNSDCF joint senior steering committee meeting was co-chaired by the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr. Misheck JM Sibanda and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mr Edward Kallon.
Noting the overarching principle of “leaving no one and no place behind” of the agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development that the Government and UN adopted, Chief Secretary to President and Cabinet Dr Misheck J M Sibanda said, “This shared commitment is focusing on delivering concrete development results that ensure inclusive participation and reaching the people who historically and typically are left the furthest behind on the socio-economic development landscape.” “Our thrust as the Government, UN and partners to work together to accelerate impactful sustainable development during the Decade of Action as we emerge stronger and recover better from the COVID 19 pandemic,” said Dr Sibanda.
The ZUNSDCF is the strategic instrument for planning and implementing the UN-supported development programmes and projects in the country. Given the ambition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the urgency of its implementation timeline, the ZUNSDCF firmly guides the entire programme cycle, comprising planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation as well as reporting on collective UN support in the developmental process.
The ZUNSDCF, by its very nature of being an agreement between the UN and the Government of Zimbabwe, also determines and reflects on the UN development system’s contributions to the country and shapes the configuration of UN support required inside and outside the country.
Noting the generous support of the donor community and their partnerships with the UN that facilitated the delivery of development projects and programmes worth USD523 million in 2021, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Zimbabwe Mr Edward Kallon said, “The UN, we collectively remain committed to achieving the aspirations of the Cooperation Framework through the deployment of human, technical and financial resources in the most effective and efficient manner towards delivering on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the transformative recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Development partners validated the 2021 UN-supported development programmes and projects worth USD 523 million under the just-ended 2016-2021 ZUNDAF programme cycle.
The participants also adopted development priorities for 2022 and beyond that were identified as key programmes and projects in keeping a focus on the interventions that will contribute to the realization of the ZUNSDCF in ending poverty, transforming the lives of all citizens, and protecting the environment.
The priority areas agreed to include socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate action and resilience building and programmes focusing on youth, women, persons with disability, indigenous populations, key populations, migrants, and other populations of concern under the principle of leaving no one behind.
Through jointly developing the 2022 Joint Work Plan under the ZUNSDCF, the Government, UN, and partners seek to operationalize the people, planet, prosperity, and peace pillars of the Cooperation Framework, in a collaborative manner.